On the weekend of 4-6 Oct the Kilimanjaro Warriors team all gathered in the DFW area for a series of events.

The weekend started with two of our warriors, Erich Ellis and Nick Perales getting a chance to parachute out of a helicopter.

  Nick Perales

We would like to thank the All Veteran Parachute Team, the Lauterbach’s with Quality Aircraft, and Alliance Airport Operations for making this happen for Nick and Erich.

On Friday evening we attended a concert for veterans hosted by American Airlines and featuring Wynonna Judd, Tony Orlando and the Lt. Dan Band.

From the left is: Joe Evans, Sarah Evans, Kisha Makerney, Mark Heniser, Erich Ellis, Steve Connolly, Nick Perales, Maria Gill and Orlando Gill

On Saturday morning we planned to accomplish a quick training hike. As we started, however, we encountered a surprise gathering of about 100 citizens of Keller, Texas, thanking us for our service and wishing us luck on our climb – it was very heartwarming. A retired Marine pilot, Mike Frese, hosted the event by introducing the climbing party and having the citizens come by to shake hands with the group.  Many people from Keller Texas have been very supportive of the climb assisting with donations and planning. A few organizations like the Keller Rotary Club, the Keller Lacrosse Association, and the National Charity League of Keller really helped pull off this surprise event.

After the surprise and a quick two mile hike, we went to Cabelas Outiftters. We were treated to a store tour and lunch, and they also assisted us with supplies at a very good discount! They literally rolled out the red carpet for us and we were very honored as they have been been great supporters of our expedition.

Saturday evening we were guests at Skyball, a formal ball honoring veterans held at an American Airlines hanger at DFW. It was an amazing evening and a great fundraising event.  The Fort Worth Air Power Foundation raised money that evening to pay for our flights to and from Africa!

It was a very patriotic weekend and fun to be part of. Now we buckle down and continue our training for our climb.